he reported that Turkey was weak and that 6000 troops could retake Egypt. Bonaparte's policy, however, at the moment was to maintain friendly relations with the Sultan. The Government's intention, he wrote in 1802 to the French Ambassador in Constantinople,
"is that the French Ambassador shall regain by all possible means the supremacy which France possessed in that city for 200 years. His palace is the most beautiful in Pera. He must assume a rank above that of all other Ambassadors, and must never appear without great state. He must again take under his special protection all the Christians and all Christian institutions in Syria and Armenia, and all Christian pilgrims to the Holy Places. On every possible occasion he must endeavour to attract the attention of the Turks to France. Thus the French Embassy may be illuminated on the birthday of the prophet."
Sultan Selim returned these civilities by presents to Josephine, and by giving instructions that in all future official decrees Napoleon should be described as "Padishah" and Emperor of France. In 1805, however, when Turkey renewed her treaty of 1798 with Russia, Napoleon turned from flattery to threats.
"How can you permit Russia to dictate to you?" he wrote. "If you persist in refusing me what France has always had, namely, the first place at Constantinople, I shall range myself on the side of your enemies. Trust only to your true friend, who is France, or you and your religion and your family will perish."
In the following year he ordered Cambacérès to prepare an onslaught on Russia in the shape of a brochure entitled Un Vieil Ottoman à ses Frères. This was translated into Turkish, and a thousand copies were despatched to Dalmatia, Vienna and Constantinople respectively, while another thousand were sent to Marseilles for distribution among the ships trading with the Levant. In 1806, after Jena and Austerlitz, the Emperor despatched Sébastiani to persuade the Sultan to declare war against England and Russia. The mission succeeded, and French aid was sent against attacks by land and sea. But Turkey was a mere pawn in the Emperor's game, and at Tilsit he abandoned his ally to the tender mercies of Russia,
